ROSWELL

One of the benefits of being a beer writer is that I sometimes get to taste beers that most people don’t. Which is great for me, but not much help when it comes to putting together an accessible list of great beers. Roswell, released in July, was a difficult beer to try because there was only a small amount, and it sold out quickly. But the brewery did its best to make it available to people who stopped in — on draft, at least — and it’s worth including on this list despite its rarity, because it was outstanding. Roswell is a lambic-style sour beer that was spontaneously fermented and barrel-aged over the course of about nine months; it was then re-fermented in five batches with five different kinds of fruit: apricot, blackberry, cranberry, guava and raspberry. And each one was like a burst of that fruit times ten, with aromas to match and magical simplicity that belied the complexity with which they were concocted. Black Project continues to innovate, and even if you can only catch one special release during the year, it's worth it. -Westword

Black Project Wild & Spontaneous Ales doesn't make the usual beers, but the brewery's latest creations are a little more unusual than, well, usual. This Saturday, the brewery will release five different fruited versions of Roswell, a lambic-style sour beer that was brewed, fermented spontaneously and barrel-aged over the course of about nine months; the beers were then re-fermented on a ridiculously plentiful five pounds of fruit per gallon.

To make Roswell, Black Project cooked up fifteen barrels (about thirty kegs) of base beer last fall and then cooled the batch overnight in an open-topped vessel known as a coolship. During the night, the wort (or unfermented beer) collected wild yeast and bacteria from the air, which began the fermentation process. The liquid was then aged in oak barrels. Then, in the spring, brewery owners James and Sarah Howat selected barrels with the least amount of acidity — so that the beers would have a dry flavor and mouthfeel — and separately added the fruit, which also fermented using the same wild yeast.

The five variants — raspberry, blackberry, cranberry, guava and apricot — will be available in bottles to the public this Saturday, July 22. Each 500-milliliter bottle will cost $20, with a limit of three per person (though that might be lowered to two, depending on the demand). On Sunday, a sixth variant, blueberry, will be available for pours in the taproom but not sold in bottles; all six versions will be available to drink in the taproom that day, as well.

Beers like these are known as lambics in Belgium, where brewers have a centuries-old tradition of using airborne yeast and microorganisms to ferment the beer, giving them sour, wild or funky aromas and flavors. U.S. brewers are only just beginning to experiment with the style and are often hesitant to use the world "lambic," out of respect for the style's regional origin.

Over the last few weeks, the Howats have been heavily promoting Roswell with a series of cool videos and Facebook posts that tie the beer to Roswell, New Mexico, where a UFO supposedly landed in 1947. Black Project regularly names its beers and events after planes, rockets and other aerospace-related technology — going so far as to announce its releases with mysterious coding, as if they were secret government projects or undercover operations. Roswell has been no exception.

But the publicity was unnecessary: A line will form around the block on Saturday — with the first few people arriving in the middle of the night and sleeping on the sidewalk — just as it always does for a new Black Project release, and the beer will sell out within a few hours or less.

Even with only 420 bottles available for sale to the public, this will be the brewery's largest-ever release, about double that of previous releases — thanks to a recent expansion that saw the addition of 140 new wooden barrels, more space next door to the brewery and the brand-new coolship.

Since there are six versions of the beer, they will be highly sought after and heavily traded following the release. Traders, lambic lovers and beer geeks from other states, and even Canada, have said they are flying in to try to score some Roswell, and there are others looking to acquire it from people who have promised to pick up bottles, even though that likelihood is far from certain, James says. "People are already trading them online," he points out.

And while the demand is flattering to the Howats — and also encouraged by their stealthy marketing — they also want people to actually drink the beer rather than trade it as a commodity. As a result, James and Sarah are planning to handle this release a little differently than what they have done in the past.

For starters, they are only going to allow people to buy two (or possibly three bottles) each, meaning drinkers won't be able to collect an entire set. While limits on bottles are nothing new, the Howats are hoping that this will encourage people to open their bottles with friends so that they can try all five bottled variants (and stick around to sample the blueberry version at the brewery).

"We want to get this into as many hands as possible," Sarah explains. "The idea is that we want people to get out of their house, get together and share it with each other."

They will also tell people on release day about a contest in which Black Project will award several special bottles of Roswell to people who do the best job — with pictures and a story — of using social media to demonstrate how they are sharing the beer with like-minded drinkers. The awards will be for the funniest social-media share, the most creative and most adventurous. And the special bottles to be awarded? The elusive blueberry Roswell, which won't be for sale to the public.

The bottle release takes place at 2 p.m. on Saturday; Brewed Food will be on hand to pair the beers with Tender Belly bratwursts served on pain de mie buns with kimchi, gochujang mayo and a side of Hop Ash potato chips (first come, first served). The official names for the six variants of beer are: MOGUL | Apricot; MAJESTIC 12 | Blackberry; HIGH DIVE | Cranberry; BLUEBOOK | Guava; GRUDGE | Raspberry; and SIGN | Blueberry. -Westword

Former Future Brewing debuted a side project in 2015 called the Black Project, dedicated to spontaneously fermented creations that owner James Howat inoculates with whatever yeast lands in the “coolship” on the roof of his brewery. But before Black Project was born, Howat poured Jumpseat, an early incarnation of a Black Project beer, at the 2015 Big Beers, Belgians and Barleywines Festival in Vail. It was unusual, to say the least – a dry-hopped wild ale that was at once funky and bretty, but also full of soothing, always-sweet apple, apricot and tangerine flavors.

Former Future Brewing is a thing of the past. The present lies with Black Project Spontaneous & Wild Ales.

James and Sarah Howat, who founded Former Future on South Broadway in 2014, have decided to refocus and rebrand their brewery — changing the name, the decor and, most important, the beer menu — after the popularity of their side effort, Black Project, took off in the past year. They have been hinting at the change on social media over the past few weeks and will reveal the new look today at 2 p.m.

“If I could, I would run both breweries, but we can’t open another tap room, so we had to make a choice, financially and legally,” explains James Howat. “It’s a little sad to leave Former Future behind, but it made sense for us to just put all of our energy and our focus behind one brand.”

As part of the change, Black Project will take over some space from an antique shop next door, where it will be able to store one hundred oak wine barrels for aging beer, along with other, larger wooden containers, possibly some puncheons or a foeder (both are large wooden barrels). The brewery has also ordered a ten-barrel custom-made copper coolship — an open-topped fermentation vessel — which will replace the two large stock pots that Howat now uses.

Former Future opened in early 2014 with a Steampunk theme and a lineup of beers that ranged from saisons to pale ales to the standout Salted Caramel Porter. But soon after opening, the Howats began experimenting with beers fermented with naturally occurring yeast that was captured from the air around the brewery — a longtime interest for the couple.

Capturing yeast this way was common in Europe — Belgium in particular — for centuries, and the technique relies mostly on happenstance: The yeast that ferments the beer is whatever happens to land in an open vat of beer, rather than a cultivated strain consciously selected by a brewmaster. Brewers today are able to isolate certain wild strains, however, in order to create the flavor profiles they are looking for. Belgium’s Cantillon is the most well-known brewery making spontaneously-fermented beers, but several U.S. craft brewers do, too.

The Howats have been capturing the yeast by putting their coolship on the roof of their building, after which they propagate the yeast, brew the beer and ferment it in wooden barrels inside. The new coolship will be located inside, in a room with open windows (which is similar to traditional spontaneous-fermentation breweries). They could only make a limited amount, however, and bottles typically sold out within hours of going on sale at the brewery.

In recent weeks, though, Former Future experimented with putting only Black Project beers on tap in the tap room to see how they would do. “They always outsell the other beers,” Howat says. “The people who are already coming in here are buying these beers already.” In addition, people from other states and other parts of Colorado have been seeking out the brewery because of its focus on spontaneous ales. “We have a chance to be the only brewery in the state doing 100 percent” spontaneous fermentation, he adds.

Black Project will likely have six to eight of these beers on tap at all times, and although most will have sour, wild or funky notes, some will use wild yeast to make beers that taste “clean,” Howat says. He will do this by isolating certain strains of yeast that have different flavor profiles. One, for instance, will be an IPA.

The new look, new beers and the new name will all make their grand entrance today at the brewery. There will still be some Salted Caramel Porter on tap for a few weeks as well, for those who love it. -Westword

Former Future had a bumpy landing when it opened in February 2014, running out of beer immediately and limiting its hours. But the brewery, helmed by the adorable James and Sarah Howat, has soared ever since. Based on a steampunk-like historical-futuristic theme, Former Future pours an eclectic lineup of beers — everything from a pre-Prohibition-style cream ale and a sour red to a salted-caramel porter and a barrel-aged Russian imperial stout — that you can drink at the bar, which is made from the wing of a Cessna airplane. The experience is deepened by the Howats' ever-present elegance behind that bar and other well-thought-out design touches, such as lights made from old whiskey barrels and runway lights, barbershop-style bar chairs and tabletop terrariums. In October, the brewery won a medal at the Great American Beer Festival for a beer that it spontaneously fermented on its roof. Look for more leaps forward into the past this year.